2023 Minimum Wage Pay Raise

The minimum wage will be $14.13 per hour an increase of $1.13 per hour for most employees effective January 1, 2023 Every wage increase will be tied to the CPI-W (The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers), which will take effect on the first of every year. At the beginning of 2019, New Jersey’s Gov Murphy signed legislation that would increase the minimum wage.

As a seasonal resort area, home to mostly small businesses our chamber pressed that additional time was needed for our businesses to reach that $15 per hour mark. Under the law, seasonal and small employers were given until 2026 to pay their workers $15 per hour to lessen the impact on their businesses. The minimum hourly wage for these employees will increase to $12.93/hour on Jan. 1, up from $11.90.

How do you know if you are a Seasonal or Small Business?

“Seasonal employer” means an employer who exclusively provides its services in a continuous period of not more than ten weeks during the months of June, July, August, and September, or an employer for which, during the immediately previous calendar year, not less than two-thirds of the employer’s gross receipts were received in a continuous period of not more than sixteen weeks or for which not less than 75 percent of the wages paid by the employer during the immediately preceding year were paid for work performed during a single calendar quarter.

“Small employer” means any employer who employed less than six employees for every working day during each of a majority of the calendar workweeks in the current calendar year and less than six employees for every working day during not less than 48 calendar workweeks in the preceding calendar year, except that, if the employer was newly established during the preceding calendar year, the employer shall be regarded as a “small employer” if the employer employed less than six employees for every working day during all of the weeks of that year, and during a majority of the calendar workweeks in the current calendar year, and, if the employer is newly established during the current calendar year, the employer shall be regarded as a “small employer” if the employer employed less than six employees for every working day during a majority of the calendar workweeks in the current calendar year

Agricultural workers are guided by a separate minimum wage timetable and were given until 2027 to reach the $15/hour minimum wage. Employees who work on a farm for an hourly or piece-rate wage will see their minimum hourly wage increase to $12.01, up from $11.05. Additionally, long-term care facility direct care staff will see their minimum wage rise by $1.13, to $17.13.

Tipped workers’ cash wage will increase to $5.26/hour, with employers able to claim an $8.87 tip credit, an increase in the maximum allowable tip credit of $1. If the minimum cash wage plus an employee’s tips do not equal at least the state minimum wage, then the employer must pay the employee the difference. For more information on tipped workers, visit here.

See NJ Department of Labor Schedule:

July 1, 2019 – Minimum wage will be $10.00 per hour
January 1, 2020 – Minimum wage will be $11.00 per hour
January 1, 2021 – Minimum wage will be $12.00 per hour
January 1, 2022 – Minimum wage will be $13.00 per hour
January 1, 2023 – Minimum wage will be $14.00 per hour
January 1, 2024 – Minimum wage will be $15.00 per hour